Gibbs Wealth Management Grows Stock Position in Citigroup Inc. $C

Gibbs Wealth Management grew its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 96.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,368 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,563 shares during the period. Gibbs Wealth Management’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $1,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Citigroup during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. purchased a new position in Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. TD Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Citigroup

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup priced an $817 million multifamily CMBS deal, its largest post-GFC multifamily-only securitization, underscoring continued strength in Citi’s commercial real estate capital markets franchise and demand for apartment-backed debt. Citigroup (C) Sets Post GFC Record With $817 Million Multifamily CMBS Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Several brokerages remain constructive on Citigroup after its strong second quarter, with analysts pointing to solid earnings, improving outlooks and rising estimates for the bank. Buy 3 Top-Ranked Big Investment Banks Amid Solid Q2 Earnings & Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its quarterly dividend to $0.67 per share from $0.60, signaling confidence in capital strength and offering a more attractive income profile for shareholders. Dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup was also in the news for hiring five U.S. tech investment banking executives, a move that could support franchise growth over time but is unlikely to move the stock immediately. Citigroup hires five US tech investment banking executives from rivals
• Negative Sentiment: Citi’s downgrade of agilon health to Sell shows the bank is still making cautious calls on certain sectors, but this is more relevant to agilon than to Citigroup’s own earnings outlook. Why agilon health (AGL) Shares Are Falling Today

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on C. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Citigroup from $154.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Citigroup from $137.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on Citigroup from $134.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Citigroup news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.30, for a total transaction of $265,260.10. Following the sale, the director owned 12,194 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,908.20. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Citigroup Price Performance

C opened at $131.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $225.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.25, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.11. Citigroup Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.94 and a 12-month high of $147.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $134.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.76.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $3.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.41. Citigroup had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 10.15%. The firm had revenue of $24.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Citigroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Citigroup’s payout ratio is presently 25.92%.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $30.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Profile

Citigroup Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in New York City with roots tracing back to the City Bank of New York, founded in 1812. The modern Citigroup was created through the 1998 merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group and has since operated as a diversified bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments and institutions worldwide.

Citi’s principal businesses include retail and commercial banking, credit card and consumer lending products, wealth management and private banking, and a full suite of institutional services.